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Losing a Child: Always Andy's Mom


As a pediatrician, married mom of three biological children and one foster son, my life was busy, rushing off to my office four days a week, seeing patients for three and working as a medical director of a local physician organization for one. I balanced this with rushing off to shuttle my kids to after sports and other after school activities. All of this changed one day in August of 2018 when my 14 year old son, Andy, was killed in a car accident. I felt like my life was over, and in some ways it was over, and a new life was forced to begin in its place. 

Grief is seldom discussed openly in our culture, and the death of a child makes people feel even more uncomfortable. On this blog and podcast, ‘Losing a Child: Always Andy’s Mom’, the topic is approached openly and honestly, speaking to people who have lost loved ones and experts who help care for them. Whether you are a parent experiencing loss or someone who wants to support another going through this tragedy, this blog and podcast strives to offer hope and help.

Aug 18, 2022

Technology has changed how we look at the world in so many ways. Information is available with the click on your phone or computer at any time of the day or night. Today’s guest, Reid, worked in the field of technology for many years. Although his education background was in psychology, he never really felt called to work in psychology after college. When Reid was hit with his own grief after the deaths of his father and then his step-father, he got a first-hand look at grief. He began to feel a calling to help grieving people, not by being a professional counselor, but perhaps in another way.

Reid started taking classes on ‘companioning’ others in their grief. When giving a talk to his class about grief and guilt, Reid was told by a classmate that he should utilize his soothing voice on the Calm app in a way to help grieving, anxious people. Although he talked with the Calm executives about joining their team, it never went any further than a few conversations. Then a friend suggested starting his own app instead - specifically for the grieving community. Although Reid originally hesitated, it was honestly the perfect fit for him. By starting the Grief Refuge app, Reid merged his technology background with his passion to help grieving people. 

His goal for the app is to help people feel more empowered on their own grief journeys. Now over a year since its release, the app is doing just that. People have downloaded the app (on both iTunes and GooglePlay) from all over the world. To learn more, visit their website, griefrefuge.com. With new content added daily, grieving people can use the Grief Refuge app to help them walk through each day. Through using the app, people have ‘a safe and sacred space to explore grief related feelings learn helpful ways to cope, and find peace and purpose after loss.’